Sunday, 26 February 2017

Let's jump over the east border of Mali and visit with Mangue Music for the 2nd time (after Les Filles) the country of Niger to hear some radio sessions by Tal National.

Tal National in the New York metro (source: WFMU)

adapted from bio at talnational.comTal National spent more than a decade crisscrossing Niger, usually on dirt pathways through the Sahara, playing epic five-hour sets, seven days a week, selling their CDs on street corners and roundabouts. In the process, they became Niger’s most popular band. In Niger, a former French colony, can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in Tal National’s members.
In Tal National’s music we hear the rolling 12/8 rhythms in the Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the pensive aridity of the Tuareg’s assouf and the exquisite griot guitar of Mali’s Songhai, all delivered with virtuoso precision and unrelenting energy. The band speaks French, but use the American term “very rock and roll” quite seriously, implying their awareness that the loud guitars and bewildering rhythmic complexity separate them from their West African peers.
On stage Tal National perform with six musicians, but because of their rigorous performance schedule there might be up to thirteen members at any one time. At shows, musicians regularly change places midway through songs (including the amazing sight of drummers swapping without missing a beat). On some nights the band might split up to play two gigs simultaneously.
In 2013 they recorded and released their first international album 'Kaani', after which they went on an international tour, playing a.o.in North-America and Western-Europe. Their 2nd international release 'Zoy Zoy' was recorded in Niamey, Niger’s capital, by Chicago-based producer/engineer Jamie Carter, using a remote recording rig in a dusty makeshift studio. In the tour around this release of this album, they did radio sessions for WFMU in New York and for KEXP in Seattle.

"The first thing that hits you when you listen to Tal National is the band’s tightness and fiery energy." --NPR (2013)"The music keeps leaping ahead with one surprise after another: guitar parts that align and diverge and reconfigure, drumming that pounces on offbeats. The patterns are crisp, complex and tireless." --New York Times (2013)

INFO about the HUNTERS (or DONSO)

source: mali-music (through archive.org)
Throughout all of Mali the Hunters ("donso") have a status of their own. Their Brotherhood is placed above any ethnic, religious or caste-oriented rifts. It is the oldest traditional institution in Mali. The music is generally reduced to two instruments, the Karignan (a piece of iron that is scraped) and the N'goni Donso ("hunter's n'goni" with three strings) which accompanies the songs with the insistent repetition of its three notes. A flute can be added to these instruments. The songs function is primarily to reassure and encourage the members of the expedition during those long evenings spent in the bush, without the slightest shelter or protection.

info and one album from hardwax: (Toba) Seydou Traore was born in the early 1960s near Bougouni in Mali, where as a young child he heard the music of hunters. Seydou’s ensuing fascination led to much family conflict, but he persisted, later becoming an apprentice of renowned musician Yoro Sidibe. In this context the word protégés apprentice is not inaccurate; not everyone can decide to become a donso, and the gift is said to be passed down from strong women to strong sons; it is equally a gift to be able to recognize which young boys have what it takes to brave both the bush and the strings of the donso ngoni. Young men are apprenticed to the great elder musicians and earn their place in the hierarchical society of the donsos. Seydou eventually became a master in his own right, consistently satisfying listeners across Mali with his strong voice and truly comic sensibility.

album "Toba Seydou Traore" (#YY.006)* is out of stock at hardwax (see above), but seems available at dragcity

biography fromt iTunes: A respected musician for some 30 years, practicing ritualistic tribal music that dates back to the 14th century, Yoro Sidibe is a donso ngonifola (hunter's musician) from the Wasulu village of Babbala, in the southwestern Malian hinterlands. Typically, donsos play to get the hunters riled before they leave for a hunt. Dressed in floppy hats and mudcloths with muskets draped on their shoulders, the hunters take to their bicycles in search for animals while Sidibe sings, chants, and strums in an intense trance. Over the years, as well as performing and teaching students, he released several dozen cassettes that were sold by street vendors in the village. Costing less than an American dollar, one of these boombox recordings caught the ear of field recorder Jack Carneal while he was visiting Africa with the hopes of tracking down indigenous musicians. After some convincing, he secured the rights to issue some of Sidibe's recordings on CD for the nonprofit label Yaala Yaala Records. In early 2008, the label paired with Drag City to release Yoro Sidibe's self-titled album. --Jason Lymangroveravailable at iTunes: Yoro Sidibe*

Sometime in 2012 a whole 'Gateway to Joy with Donna' (3hrs) was dedicated to music from Mali, from the original stream of that show I have for you a set of 4 lesser known Orchestras from Mali, all 1970s recordings and mostly broadcasted from tape-copies. About the orchestras themselves is hardly any info and not any one picture to find on the whole wide web (that's why the photos above).

About Me

This blog is made out of love for the music here presented in softcopy, if you like something, best support the music and artists by trying to buy a hardcopy yourself and visiting their concerts.

On this blog will be presented: original K7s with music from all over the world, radio broadcasts of live concerts (from K7 recordings and/or radio streams), all sorts of other musical items.Note: selections based on personal manguetic taste.

MY WISH LIST:music I know exist, never have heard, but love to have listened to at least once*Doura Barry - Laureat de Guinea (K7)*Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - early K7s*1980s live recs Super Biton*1980s/90s live recs Bembeya Jazz*1990s live recs Oumou Sangare*1980-85 live recs King Sunny Ade*1979-86 live recs Amazones de Guinee*recs Andy Kershaw BBC Sessions*recs BBC World Music Awards*Tinariwen - early K7s (1992/93)(will be continuous updated)